Tim Wonnacott
Tim’s career at Sotheby’s spanned some 25 years, firstly in the furniture department in London and later embraced most of the decorative arts, including clocks, barometers, 19th century sculpture and works of art, ceramics and silver. He has conducted auction sales throughout the United Kingdom, North America and such far flung places as India! Tim concluded his 25 years at Sotheby’s having worked as Chairman of Sotheby’s saleroom at Olympia in London.
Tim first started appearing regularly on television in the early 1990’s on the BBC Antiques Roadshow. Subsequently Tim appeared regularly on a number of BBC antiques shows including The Great Antiques Hunt, Going Going Gone and The Antiques Show He lectures on a wide variety of subjects relating to Art, Antiques & History for corporate clients, including the Cruise & Leisure industry. He has written a book for Virgin Books entitled, Tim Wonnacott’s Money-making Antiques for the Future.
In January 2003, Tim took over as Presenter of the BBC 1 programme Bargain Hunt presenting nearly 1300 programmes until January 2016.
In 2009 a special series of Celebrity Bargain Hunt was presented by Tim, alongside guests including Theo Paphitis, Tony Blackburn, Henry Cooper and the lovely but unrelated Jilly Cooper. In 2010 and 2011 celebrity shows for Children in Need included Len Goodman (Strictly Come Dancing) and Richard O’Brian (Crystal Maze).
Not surprisingly, Bargain Hunt’s loyal audience continued to grew over the years and was the highest rated T.V. programme on any channel in the UK, during Tim’s 13 years at the helm,with the exception of the news! Bargain Hunt is shown every day outside the UK in 30 countries including the U.S.A. on BBC America and Australia on Foxtel. In August 2011 Tim and the team travelled to Australia to make five special Bargain Hunt Down under shows which were shown in Britain to much acclaim in January 2012.
A new series for BBC 2 at 6.30 pm, aired in February 2011, starring Tim Wonnacott was Royal Upstairs Downstairswhere he was joined by Celebrity Chef Rosemary Shrager for a romp through 20 stately houses throughout Britain, looking at the houses, contents and food enjoyed by Queen Victoria in her 60 year reign.
Other programmes with which Tim has been associated include ‘Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is! when Tim raised nearly £10 K profits for charity.
In an unusual departure from his normal “Antiques” comfort zone and the icing on what turned out to be a vintage 2014 year for Tim was his appearance in the Autumn BBC 1’s “Strictly Come Dancing “ which was broadcast across the winter months. Tim described his time on “Strictly” as “ just the greatest fun” and having the opportunity to learn new skills with the gorgeous Natalie Lowe was too good an opportunity to miss! He survived to week four and was sad to be eliminated but the gruelling training and application of Natalie’s training regime at least had a beneficial effect on Tim’s waistline!
As if all this excitement wasn’t enough in 2014 Tim filmed a brand new Antiques series of 10 half hour programmes for BBC 2 called “The Great Antiques Map of Britain” which sees him travelling the length and breadth of Great Britain visiting the places where antiques and collectables originally came from, meeting along the way Curators and valuing for Collectors in the comfort of a vintage American silver Airstream trailer towed by a Land Rover! The series aired on BBC2 across 2015.
Tim has now narrated nearly 1000 of BBC 2’s blockbuster shows The Antiques Road Trip and Celebrity Antiques Roadtrip which is now in its twelfth series with a further 80 programmes commissioned for 2024.
Tim has been married to Helen for nearly forty years, has become a grandfather of three and remains an avid collector of the obscure and curious!
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